This is a list of fictional stories in which solar eclipses feature as an important plot element. Mere passing mentions are not listed.
Written works
Novels
- Le Pays des Fourrures (The Fur Country) by Jules Verne (1873). Scientists witness a solar eclipse north of the Arctic Circle in the summer of 1860.
- King Solomon's Mines by Henry Rider Haggard (1885).
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain (1889). The protagonist avoids being burned at the stake by predicting a solar eclipse in 528 CE.
- Pharaoh by Bolesław Prus (1895). A historical novel with a solar eclipse c. 1085 BCE (at the fall of Egypt's New Kingdom and 20th Dynasty) predicted by the priest Menes.
- The Secret Mountain by Enid Blyton. A group of children and their guardian, captives of a sun-worshipping African tribe, escape by threatening to kill the Sun, having prior knowledge of an imminent solar eclipse.
- Voyage: A Novel of 1896 by Sterling Hayden (1976). Depicts a solar eclipse of the titular year, viewed from the South Pacific.
- Black Robe by Brian Moore (1985). Jesuit missionaries in 17th century Quebec use their astronomical knowledge of the exact time of an eclipse to prevent their slaughter by Hurons.
- Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg (1990). Based on Asimov's 1941 short story of the same name.
- El Eclipse by Augusto Monterroso. Short story in which a Spanish missionary is captured by Mayans and tries to use his knowledge of a solar eclipse to scare them into releasing him. They sacrifice him anyway, already having calculated the infinite dates of upcoming eclipses.
- Gerald's Game and Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King (1992) depict the solar eclipse of July 20, 1963.
- Illegal Alien by Robert J. Sawyer (1997). Aliens visit Earth and observe a total solar eclipse. Their scientist host speculates that Earth may be the only planet in the entire universe whose moon covers its star perfectly (with only transits or occultations occurring on other planets). Although it is not explicitly stated in the novel, Sawyer has noted that the eclipse was the historical eclipse of August 11, 1999, which allows the reader to ascertain the time the novel takes place.[1]
- Eclipse of the Sun by Phil Whitaker (1997). Set in India and has at its center a dramatic attempt to organize a public viewing of the solar eclipse of October 24, 1995.
- Solar Eclipse by John Farris (1999).
- Sunwing by Kenneth Oppel (1999).
- The Eclipse of the Century by Jan Mark (1999).
- Pitch Black: Fight Evil with Evil by Frank Lauria and David Twohy (c. 2000).
- Eclipse (2000) and Shroud (2002) by John Banville. Interlinked novels set against the backdrop of a solar eclipse.
- Eclipse, by Erin Hunter (2008). Part of the Warriors series; the solar eclipse occurs during the battle between all the clans, foretold by a strange cat by the name of "Sol".
- Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan (2008).
- The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (2009).
- Every Soul A Star by Wendy Mass (2008).
- A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (2013).
- Jade Dragon Mountain by Elsa Hart, (2015). A historical mystery centered around a solar eclipse in early Qing Dynasty China.
- The Eclipse by Willer de Oliveira.
- Trade winds to Meluhha by Vasant Davé (2012). A historical novel where the unique total lunar eclipse and total solar eclipse in Babylon in May 2138 BC set off a young Mesopotamian's adventures in the ancient Indus Valley civilization.
Films
There is a body of films featuring solar eclipses. Compared to other astronomical events featured in films, such as full moons and asteroid strikes, solar eclipses are less commonly seen. When they have featured in films, they often drive the plot and have a portentous presence.[2] NPR's Glen Weldon said that films use eclipses "to signal to audiences that the normal rules have temporarily lifted, and things are about to get weird." The first film to feature a solar eclipse was the 1907 silent film The Eclipse, or the Courtship of the Sun and Moon, which featured a solar eclipse as a fantastical consummation between the Sun and the Moon.[3] Eclipses have been seen as bad omens throughout history and filmmakers leverage that belief "as visual cues or key plot points", according to The Oregonian's Amy Wang.[4] Lisa Yaszek, a professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech, has remarked that the
most accurate depiction of a solar eclipse she has seen in film was in the 1961 religious epic Barabbas, which included film of an actual solar eclipse during a crucifixion scene.[5]